Monster Hunter Depths Of Darkness
by Dinohunter55
Summary: A town is forgotten, heroes arise, and obstacles to becoming a Monster Hunter will test the strength of hunters who seek to be the best.
1. Introduction: Crystal Ridge Village

Monster Hunter Depths Of Darkness

Introduction: Crystal Ridge Village

Disclaimer: I do not own Monster Hunter.

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Crystal Ridge Village, a once rich and prosperous town located in the snowy depths of the mountainous terrain, was a heaven to foreign traders and destination of hunters worldwide. The town profited from its rich diversity of rare ores and wild spices and herbs. Trade routes leading through the town linked smaller towns and connected it to the mountain city of Teribera.

The main attraction of the town was the festival held every five years. In honour of the rich resources of the area, the town held the week long Festival of Light. Each of the building around the square held a crystal atop the room and on the eve of the last night when the moon was high, the village chief would bring out the cherished jewel. The stone was of a rare material that held within it, specks of dragonite ore and at its center, a red diamond.

Once the moon had reached its peak, the chief would ascend the stairs to the top of the pillar and place the stone atop it. The moon light lit up the stone in a luminous glow of green and red. Beams of the light spread out ward and illuminated the crystals atop the surrounding buildings. The light reflected into the sky and created an aurous like effect.

Then disaster struck, the stone was stolen from the village chief. The stone was never recovered and the thief never found. The stone never turned up in markets and finally, the authorities were forced to end the search. The following year, a herd of Popo fleeing an enraged Tigrex stampeded through the town and levelled most of the homes, leaving only a smouldering pile of rumble. The home owners, instead of rebuilding took what they had left and moved to the city to make a living.

Slowly over the course of several years the town fell into lower recognition as a destination of travelers. The new and safer routes around the mountains to the other major centers diverted people around the town. As the wagons and animals stopped traversing the roads to Crystal Ridge Village, they came under disrepair. Vegetation slowly crept back and reclaimed the roads until they became trails and then barely noticeable paths. Once the vegetation reclaimed the land so did the neighbouring wildlife.

The few people that did traverse the paths either wound up missing or when they reached the village told stories of horror. The travelers spoke of vicious velociprey led by a velocidrome that would chase them for miles almost non stop.

The farms in the surrounding area suffered severally. The early frost destroyed the crops and most of the town was forced to rationing the available food. With traders afraid to travel the paths to the town, the farms and herds became invaluable. The number of carnivorous creatures spiked because of the lack of qualified hunters to control the population of the surrounding wilderness and the herd animals began to disappear. During the nights, large carnivores carried livestock off into the wilderness or as in the case with most of the animals the shredded carcasses were found the morning after.

People braved the wilderness to escape the town and were not heard from, whether it was from unwillingness to send letters through the area or they never made it out was never found out. The population decreased from a few hundred to fifty in seven years and then to twenty five who were determined their fortune would pick up.

Currency was not made of gold or silver but instead, grain and meat. The town became so reclusive that it fell of the map and no one spoke of it except as a memory, forgot and rarely brought up. The once famous town fell into darkness…


	2. Prologue: The Road Not Taken

Monster Hunter: Depths of Darkness

Monster Hunter: Depths of Darkness

Disclaimer: I do not own Monster Hunter.

Prologue: The Road Not Taken

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Author Note: I do have Monster Hunter for PS2 and Monster Hunter Freedom 2 for the PSP. For those who did not know, the disclaimer is so that Capcom cannot sue over the rights to their product.

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A low grunt sounded the approach of the trade caravan. Two popo pulled a single cart fill to the rim with supplies destined for the mountain city of Teribera, more than a weeks travel away. Six men provided the protection or at least a deterrent to the creatures of the outer territories. For the cart and few carriers that held what could not fit in the cart, they hoped that six would be enough.

It was midday, though through the dense forest canopy it was hard to tell whether it was day at all. A gentle breeze snaked its way through the trees and brought a welcomed coolness to the carriers. The cold meant they were getting closer to the mountains and their destination. The wind carried with it the heavy aroma of mountain pine and wild flowers that grew on the mountainous slopes. A distant stream was clearly heard through the silence that surrounded the well worn trail.

Kyle, a young brown haired man form the desert village of Sac'kira, examined the contents of the wagon he sat upon. He was the newly elected leader of the caravan after the unfortunate incident involving the previous leader and an enraged rathalos only the month before. He sighed as he thought of the high expectations he had to fill within the group; the last leader, Caraiirus was both wise and strong in the matters of how to profit in the trade industry.

A low rumble turned his attention to the two popo pulling the cart. Popo were queer creatures. They had a heavy build with wide, high shoulders, they also had four short thick legs and two massive tusks… or was it horns, Kyle remembered not. The popo's thick shaggy coat provided the creatures with one of the best protections against the cold but that meant death in high heat conditions like the desert or jungle. As well, the popo were the favourite prey item of the tigrex and other large carnivorous wyverns. This posed a threat to anyone who used a popo to carry goods through the region.

"How long do you suppose it will be until we reach Teribera?" Asked a gentle female voice from Kyle's left.

Kyle turned his head to see a slender woman by the name of Irina. Her long silky black hair fluttered in the breeze to reveal a pair of dark blue eyes. He smiled, "A few days yet, I think I may know a way to cut that in half though."

Irina cocked her head. "How could we do that? We've traveled this way several times, what could make it any shorter?"

"You remember that old looking trail we pass by, the one that make the men nervous."

Irina slowly nodded.

"Well before we left I asked around at the tavern and guess what I found out."

Irina sighed. "What?"

"It connects to the main road outside Teribera. Our week long journey would only take about four days if the path is in traversable conditions still." Kyle said with excitement. "What do you think?"

"That you're crazy to take a trail that no one has used in gods knows how long," Irina shot back. "We'd need at least a dozen men to guard our cart, and what about the carriers? Do we just risk the lives of every one here to get some were quicker rather than safer?"

Kyle leaned back in his seat. "I know it's a bit more risky but think of the time. We could be there and back home in almost half the time. If it were to be opened up again by us, soon others would use it too."

Irina only shook her head and hopped out of the cart.

"Where are you going," Kyle said as Irina stopped at the side of the road.

"I want to know what the guards think," Irina replied and stopped one of the men on his way by.

Kyle scratched his chin in anticipation. He watched as Irina climbed back into the cart shaking her head.

"Well?"

"I guess we go your way, though I think we're going to regret it," said Irina.

Kyle only smirked.

Several hours passed until at last they reached the old road. The brush had been cleared in the area of the road by what appeared to have been several popo. It looked as if a large group of them had passed the way only days earlier. Kyle felt more encourage by the thought that someone else had passed this way. What everyone had failed to notice was a single track obscured by the footprints of the popo, the track of a velociprey.

The cart passed slowly over the uneven terrain. When they had entered the sun was still high in the sky but it became impossible to tell weather or not it was day or night. The ground quickly deteriorated into a festering mud hole swarming with flies and other biting insects. A faint smell hung in the air, a foul one, which only grew more predominate as they wandered deeper into the woods.

"What is that smell," said Irina as she tried to wave not only the stench but insects away from her face.

"I think we should turn back," several of the carriers said but Kyle would have none of it.

"We haven't come this far only to turn back," he said. "It's bound to become better, it has to."

The popo become increasingly uneasy. They began to snort and stomp their feet in protest of going any further but yet, the continued. A large wall of brush seemed to encircle the area ahead and the source of the smell.

They passed silently through and Kyle stopped the cart.

"My god," said someone.

The brush did indeed encircle the area. It was swarming with black flies that formed clouds over the carcasses of a dozen rotting popo. It was a mass graveyard. They had not been part of a caravan but were in fact wild popo.

A scream resonated from the back of the group. One of the carriers was gone. The guards drew their weapons and formed a circle around the cart and remaining carriers. The brush rattled around the group and suddenly, a head rolled out from one section.

Irina had to turn away and then she saw it. Two adult velocidrome stood upon a raised hill in the forest. She pointed it out and yelled at the guards, that is when the attack came. Dozens of velociprey poured into the area and attacked the guards first. They were able to hold their own but not for long. The guards quickly fell and were dragged off into the brush. Irina panicked.

"No," Kyle shouted and pulled a small knife from his belt. He stabbed a velociprey in the throat as it leapt towards him.

Irina screamed as a velociprey grabbed hold of her foot and pulled her off the cart. Before the creature could sink its claws into her, Kyle leapt onto its back and sank his knife deep into its hide. The creature shrieked and fell over.

Irina saw a group of the beast approaching from behind the cart and made a run for it into the brush on the opposite side of the clearing. She ran past the rotting carcasses and into the woods. The screams of the group echoed through the trees, the heavy sounds of footsteps were in pursuit of her. She could not stop, if she did, she died…


End file.
